Carolina LabSheets

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Introduction to Prokaryotes: BacteriaWhat are bacteria? In this introductory lab students make smears of bacteria on microscope slides from pure cultures, perform a simple stain, and observe their stained slides under a microscope View »

Introduction to FungiThis lab introduces students to the Kingdom Fungi through study of two phyla, the zygomycetes and basidiomycetes. View »

Isolating Bacteria from a MixtureHow does a microbiologist isolate bacteria from a sample? In this lab students practice streaking a plate to isolate a single species of bacterium from a known mixture. View »

Introduction to Protista: EuglenaEuglena was once studied as a simple animal by zoologists and as a simple plant by botanists. How does this protist combine some characteristics of animals with the plant-like ability to photosynthesize? View »

Three-Point Linkage with DrosophilaIn this lab students investigate the effects of gene linkage and crossing-over on the inheritance of three traits of Drosophila. They use the data they collect to construct a linkage map of the gene loci. View »

Pill Bug BehaviorThis activity is an introduction to animal behavior. Students conduct an experiment to test the response of pill bugs (Armadillidium vulgare) to conditions of low and high humidity. View »

Lumbriculus: Contraction Rate of the Dorsal Blood VesselIn this introductory physiology lab, students determine the contraction rate of the dorsal blood vessel of the blackworm Lumbriculus. Students then design and conduct an experiment to determine the effect of temperature change or chemical exposure on the contraction rate. View »

Genetics with Drosophila F1 CrossesDrosophila genetics labs without the the need to select virgin female flies for crosses. We ship F1 flies so your students need only to set them up in fresh vials to produce an F2. View »

Carolina LabSheets™: Dealing with DataIn this introductory lab, students collect data and then devise methods to organize and display the data to give it more meaning. After brainstorming and evaluating their methodologies, they graph the data and perform a written analysis of their results. View »

Biodiversity of Soil AnimalsIn this lab, students use a Berlese funnel to take samples of soil-dwelling animals, and then compare the numbers and kinds of organisms collected from different habitats. View »

Bacterial MotilityIn this lab, students perform two exercises that investigate microbial motility. One is on a microscopic level, using the “hanging drop” slide preparation method to directly observe motile cells. The second exercise is on a macroscopic level and involves inoculating motility test media. View »

Carolina LabSheets™: Bacterial Hydrolysis of StarchIn this lab, students culture two bacteria on potato dextrose agar, which contains starch. When grown on potato dextrose agar, bacteria that can secrete amylase—an enzyme that hydrolyzes starch—create a zone around their colonies in which starch is absent. When the agar is flooded with iodine solution, most of the plate stains dark blue–black, but clear areas are left around colonies that secrete amylase. View »

Carolina LabSheets™: Bacterial Hydrolysis of LipidsIn this lab, students culture two species of bacteria on agar medium that contains an emulsion of plant oils and the dye, sprit blue, which forms a complex with the triglycerides of the oils and gives an opaque blue color to the agar. Colonies of bacteria that can secrete lipase, an enzyme that hydrolyzes triglycerides, develop a light area or “halo” in the surrounding medium, due to the diffusion of lipase into the medium and the resultant breakdown of the oil/spirit blue complex. View »

Carolina LabSheets™: Bacterial Hydrolysis of CaseinIn this lab, students culture two bacteria on skim milk agar. The protein casein gives milk its white color. Some bacteria secrete protease enzymes that can hydrolyze casein. When these bacteria are grown on skim milk agar a clear area develops around the colonies, indicating that casein has been hydrolyzed into its component amino acids. View »

Carolina LabSheets™: Bacteria: The Indole TestIn this lab students perform a differential test to distinguish bacteria based on the production of indole. Bacteria are grown on media containing tryptophan and then treated with Kovac’s reagent. If they possess the enzyme tryptophanase, the bacteria can metabolize tryptophan into indole, pyruvic acid, and ammonia. View »

Carolina LabSheets™: Bacteria: The Citrate TestIn this lab students perform a test on two different bacteria to determine whether the organisms can use citric acid as their sole carbon source. The citrate test is often performed as part of the IMViC (Indole, Methyl Red, Voges-Proskauer, and Citrate) series of tests used to differentiate common species of enteric bacteria. View »

Carolina LabSheets™: Linkage Determination with DrosophilaIn this lab students use the
Drosophila stock Curly/Plum; Dichaete/Stubble to determine which chromosome an “unknown” mutation is located upon. They also determine whether the unknown mutation is dominant or recessive, and whether it is autosomal or sex-linked. View »

Carolina LabSheets™: Seedling Genetics (Corn)Students study F2 seedlings to discover how a dwarf phenotype is inherited in corn. They determine that the allele for tall height exhibits complete dominance to the allele for dwarf, that the seedlings are segregating in a ratio of 3 tall to 1 dwarf, and that the parent plant was tall and heterozygous. View »

Carolina LabSheets™: Seedling Genetics (Soybean or Tomato)From a study of either soybean seedlings or tomato seedlings, students determine that the color alleles involved exhibit incomplete dominance, that the seedlings are segregating in a ratio of 1 green:2 yellow-green:1 yellow, and that the parent plant was yellow-green and heterozygous. View »

Observing Plant CellsIn this lab students observe Elodea leaves under magnification. They will see cell walls and chloroplasts. From the movement of chloroplasts they will infer that cyclosis, or protoplasmic streaming, is occurring. They also will observe that most chloroplasts are pressed tightly against the cell wall and should infer from this that much of the cell is occupied by a vacuole. View »

Make a Hay InfusionHay infusions are widely used as a source of microorganisms for studying decomposition, fermentation, and disease. And preparing one is easy--simply soak fresh or dried plant material in water. View »

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